Not a horrible week to search for streaming pitching help in your weekly matchups. There are even some pitchers here that can help you in the strikeout column on your stat sheet. Note that four of these starters get to go twice in this scoring period, so you may want to just pick them up early in the week and not drop them until Saturday or Sunday's games are wrapped up. Of course, for those of you who live to tinker with your rosters, go ahead and add/drop to your heart’s content.

Just a heads up to those who read these articles weekly. I will be off on vacation for the next couple weeks, which will cut into my time to provide lengthy analysis of the streaming pitching options for Weeks 14 and 15. The articles will still be published, just not as lengthy as usual. Fortunately, we now have the Fantasy Alarm Forums available for you to post queries, and I am one of the moderators so I should see any SP questions. The same restrictions apply to the Saturday "Two-Start Pitchers" piece I write every week, but this minor inconvenience will be over before you know it. Patience is a virtue, I am advised, but as David Byrne once said, I don't have the time. Hopefully, however, you will survive.   

Realize that these pitchers are all owned in 50 percent or less of leagues. and thus may be available in your league on the waiver wire. I am only going to highlight those pitchers that I believe can provide a boost to your rotation, so no bottom-of-the-barrel SPs will be brought to your attention. Also, please understand that this set of pitchers is being assembled early before the next scoring period (in most leagues, at least) commences, and weather, injury, demotions or crazy managerial decisions can interfere with our well-laid plans, so be ready to adjust if you can make daily lineup adjustments.

Here are the recommended streaming options for this week:

Monday, June 27, 2016

Daniel Mengden OAK @ SF Jeff Samardzija

Robbie Ray ARI vs PHI Vincent Velasquez

I am fond of noting that I have great respect for Billy Beane’s ability to locate young pitching talent. The rookie Mengden obviously fits within that category. He gets to pitch across the bay in a good pitcher's park in this matchup, although it would be better were he not facing the Giants, who are efficient at scoring runs and are among the top third of NL offenses. He has been showing better control in his past two starts, and has elite strikeout stuff (10.50 K/9 over 18 innings).

Ray is an inconsistent starter, but he did just dominate the Phillies on the road on June 17. He offers an excellent possibility of a high strikeout count, with a strong 10.42 K/9 rate over his 80.1 innings this season. He will need to work on missing bats and keeping the ball on the ground at Chase Field, as his 1.3 HR/9 rate in 2016 is not a friendly stat for a pitcher with the Diamondbacks. His opponent on the mound, Velasquez, is fresh off the DL with a biceps injury, so maybe his offense can capitalize and provide some support to let him pitch deeper into the game.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Kendall Graveman OAK @ SF Albert Suarez

Albert Suarez SF vs OAK Kendall Graveman

Both the starting pitchers in the Oakland/San Francisco game have some upside. Whether they were playing in AT&T Park or across the bay, the venue is favorable for pitchers. Neither of these pitchers will pad your K totals, as they rely on pitching to contact and keeping the ball on the ground. Suarez has the better control, but Graveman is more likely to pitch deeper into the game. If a gun were placed to my head, I would probably go with the Giant hurler, but you could hedge your bets and start both with my blessing.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Jake Peavy SF vs OAK Eric Surkamp

Junior Guerra MIL vs LAD Mike Bolsinger

It may seem that I am stuck in San Francisco based on the first three day's suggestions for streaming options. Peavy is an average source of Ks, but this recommendation comes from the way he has turned his season around since a disastrous April that seemed to portend the end of his useful career in fantasy. He has allowed just three earned runs over his last three starts, all of the quality type. He also has a 15:4 K/BB ratio over those three contests. Oakland is not a superior offense by any means, so continue to use these pitchers in the early week series at AT&T Park if you need some available starting pitching help to pad your stats in Week 13.

Guerra continues to pitch well in his second season in the big leagues. He is coming off fine seven inning, five hit, two earned run victory against the A’s, where he also struck out eight and yielded just a single walk. His improved control (he has allowed one free pass in each of his past two starts) will help increase his value going forward, as long as the trend continues. He needs to address his recent tendency to serve up dingers, however, as he has allowed five in his last four games started, especially pitching at home as Miller Park is the sixth ranked stadium for home run production in 2016. The Dodgers are an average homer-hitting team, so this is a decent matchup on that front.

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Tom Koehler MIA @ ATL Julio Teheran

Any pitcher going up against the Braves is fair game for streaming purposes. Sure, the Braves had a short stretch where their offense was clicking, but this is a team in full rebuild mode and aside from Freddie Freeman, is there a batter on the roster that scares you? Koehler is an average strikeout source, and helps himself out by limiting long ball damage with a 0.6 HR/9 average, which is not that much of a factor at Turner Field, a neutral park as far as home run production. Until his last outing against the Cubs, he had been working on a five game QS streak, so look for him to get back on track against Atlanta.

Friday, July 1, 2016

Bud Norris ATL vs MIA Paul Clemens

Mike Fiers HOU vs CHW Miguel Gonzalez

Norris has rediscovered his strikeout pitch, racking up 19 over his past three starts while handing out just four free passes. Of course, he only has one win and two no-decisions over those appearances, which can be blamed primarily on his offense. He also does not pitch past the sixth inning very often, which limits his effectiveness, as well. He has some value pitching against a lower ranked offense at home, though, especially if he can keep missing bats.

Fiers is pitching for a team that is hot, and that is a plus. As with a lot of streaming options, though, he is a poor choice if you are looking for Ks, as his K/9 sits at a woeful 6.02 on the season. He is also prone to home runs with a 1.40 HR/9 ratio over his 83.2 innings pitched in 2016. He gets the White Sox at home, where he has been much more effective this season.

Another pitcher to consider: Jorge De La Rosa COL @ LAD Clayton Kershaw Obviously, the big impediment here is the other guy taking the mound for the home team. De La Rosa gets to pitch away from Coors Field, which could be seen as a plus. Plus, he is coming off a pair of QS. His control has been an issue, and while his offense is a positive factor, Mr. Kershaw is the real fly in the ointment here in this matchup.

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Daniel Mengden OAK vs PIT TBA

To wrap up the week, here is first of our two-start streaming options (look at Sunday for the balance of the two-start possibilities). I would point you up to Monday to see what my general analysis of the Oakland rookie is, but he gets to pitch at home in this matchup and the Pittsburgh offense is certainly not clicking on all cylinders yet this season. As noted above, he has excellent swing and miss stuff, so look for better than average K production if you decide to start him.

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Albert Suarez SF @ ARI Robbie Ray

Robbie Ray ARI vs SF Albert Suarez

Kendall Graveman OAK vs PIT Francisco Liriano

All three of these starters are getting their second starts of the week on Sunday. I also discussed all three up above in the Monday and Tuesday entries, so take a peek if you want to see my general analysis of them. Both Ray and Suarez are taking the hill in a much more hitter friendly park than earlier in the week, so factor that into your decision to start either of them here. Graveman, on the other hand, has a good venue to work in, when the Pirates visit the Coliseum in Oakland. If you are in search of Ks, go with Ray, and while he is more prone to yield a homer than his opponent, the Giants are not known for their ability to go deep, so that makes him less of a risk at Chase Field in this contest.

I enjoy responding to reader questions, so feel free to post. Please note that the Fantasy Alarm Forums are now open for your use, to ask questions or provide your own commentary and wisdom. If you do not want your comments to appear in this public forum (if say your league members also read these articles), then feel free to contact me at ia@fantasyalarm.com for a more private response. I play in a ton of fantasy leagues, and am willing to discuss any baseball issues you may want to raise, not just starting pitching issues. As ever, good luck and Godspeed in your fantasy endeavors.